The Los Angeles Angels will pin their hopes on Jose Soriano on Sunday afternoon as they aim to avoid a three-game sweep by the host Toronto Blue Jays.

Even though the right-hander did not factor in the decision on April 22 at Anaheim, the Angels went on to defeat the Blue Jays 7-3 in that series finale to avert a three-game sweep.

Soriano allowed no runs and seven hits in five innings in that start. He is 0-0 with a 3.09 ERA in three career games (two starts) against Toronto.

Soriano (5-2, 1.74 ERA) has lost his past two starts, both to the Chicago White Sox.

He surrendered five runs, eight hits and three walks in four innings to Chicago on May 4 in the 6-0 home loss.

“It was just one of those days where you can’t control the strike zone and they put good swings on it, too,” Soriano said after the setback. “It’s a little tough when you face the same team (in consecutive starts) and they already see what you’ve got. But we have to continue to battle. I didn’t have the result, but I battled to the end.”

The Blue Jays have won the first two games of the series, including a 14-1 romp on Saturday. A seven-run fifth inning sealed the deal. The Angels hurt themselves with shoddy fielding.

“It just seemed like everything they touched fell in,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Maybe better execution, but at the end of the day, you minimize some hard contact. They do a good job of putting the ball in play and they found holes.”

Infielder Adam Frazier doubled in the Angels’ only run of the series as a pinch hitter in the eighth and pitched the bottom of the inning, yielding four runs.

The Blue Jays are scheduled to open with right-hander Spencer Miles (1-0, 3.50) followed by lefty Eric Lauer (1-4, 6.03). Miles has one career outing against the Angels, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless relief innings on April 21, a 4-2 Toronto road win.

Lauer did not figure in the decision on April 22 against the Angels when he started and allowed three runs in five innings. In three career games (two starts) against the Angels, he is 0-0 with a 3.97 ERA.

Right fielder Addison Barger returned to the Blue Jays’ lineup Saturday. He suffered a sprained ankle April 5 that put him on the injured list.

He made his presence felt by taking two walks and throwing out Jorge Soler at home on a strong throw from right field in the second inning after catching Vaughn Grissom’s line drive.

“I was pretty happy,” Barger said. “Throwing the ball from the outfield is one of my favorite things about the game.”

The throw was timed at 101.2 mph, the hardest throw on an outfield assist in the major leagues this season. It is the hardest throw by a Toronto position player in the Statcast era (since 2015).

“He’s got a great arm,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “People know that it’s one thing to have a good arm. It’s another thing to be accurate with it, too.”

Barger was 0-for-3 and is 1-for-22 (.045) in nine games this season. Toronto optioned outfielder Yohendrick Pinango to Triple-A Buffalo in the corresponding move.

One bright spot for the Angels came in the ninth inning when catcher Omar Martinez singled as a pinch hitter in his first major league at-bat. He was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday when Travis d’Arnaud (foot) was put on the 10-day injured list.

–Field Level Media

The Philadelphia Phillies will turn to their ace Cristopher Sanchez on Sunday as they look to win their weekend set with the visiting Colorado Rockies.

The Phillies dropped Friday’s opener 9-7 in 11 innings but fought back with a comfortable 9-3 win Saturday to set up the rubber game.

Sanchez (3-2, 2.42 ERA) is coming off his best start of the season, striking out 10 in eight innings of scoreless ball in a 9-1 home victory over the Athletics on May 5. He allowed just three hits – all singles – and walked one as he kept the A’s lineup guessing all night.

Sanchez believes that dominant performance was the result of his constant desire to improve.

“I’m always working on my pitches, I’m always working on my mechanics,” the left-hander told reporters through an interpreter.

“I like to chase perfection.”

Sanchez, 29, locked up his future with Philadelphia, signing a 6-year, $107 million extension March 24. He has faced the Rockies five times in his career, going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA.

Philadelphia interim manager Don Mattingly added on Sanchez’s great outing last Tuesday, “I’ve seen him throw the ball good all year long — it’s just some of the results haven’t been as good.”

Mattingly likened it to the turnaround the team has undergone since their 9-19 start: “Nothing seemed to be going our way early and now we’ve got it going in a direction that we like.”

Phillies star Bryce Harper left Saturday’s game in the middle of the first inning due to a migraine, but Mattingly said the former two-time MVP might be able to return Sunday.

Winning Sunday would help Colorado stop its own early-season skid. The Rockies haven’t notched a series victory since sweeping the Mets in New York on April 24-26, dropping eight of their last 11 against the Reds, Braves, Mets (in Denver) and the Phillies.

Right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (3-2, 3.41) is taking the ball for Colorado. He was the losing pitcher in his last start against the Mets on May 4, but he had a no-hitter in that outing through five before giving up four runs in the sixth. The Rockies ultimately fell 4-2.

Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer wasn’t deterred by the result and has taken positives from what he’s seen from Sugano in his first seven starts in Denver. Schaeffer said Sugano’s success comes from “putting the ball where he wants to” and “mixing well.”

The Rockies are getting exactly the pitcher they expected when they signed Sagano to a one-year deal in February, according to Schaeffer.

“The big arsenal that he has is something we desired in the offseason,” Schaeffer said. “He uses it extremely well. He attacks the strike zone, doesn’t walk guys.”

The 36-year-old was with Baltimore last season after playing in his native Japan as a member of the Yomiuri Giants from 2013-24. He won his only previous start against Philadelphia on April 5, allowing one run in six innings.

–Field Level Media

Thanks largely to an impressive outing from young starting pitcher Chase Burns, the host Cincinnati Reds snapped their longest losing streak since 2024 with a win Saturday over the Houston Astros and now seek a series win in Sunday’s rubber game.

Left-hander Andrew Abbott (1-2, 5.13 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Reds on Sunday. He carried a shutout into the sixth inning of his previous start but did not factor into the decision of a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, allowing four hits and four walks with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

Abbott has just one decision in his last four starts, going 1-0 with a 4.43 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings. He has faced the Astros once. He tossed six scoreless innings in a 2-1 road win June 16, 2023, allowing four hits and two walks with two strikeouts in his third career start.

In his 16th career start, Burns limited Houston to one run on four hits and three walks over six innings in a 3-1 win, one day after the Astros slugged out a 10-0 victory in the series opener.

In addition to Burns’ strong start, three Cincinnati relievers covered the final nine outs without allowing a baserunner, with Pierce Johnson earning his first save with a perfect ninth inning.

“Honestly, that was a big win for the team,” Johnson said. “We’ve been going through it on this last road trip. We needed one right there, so I’m glad I could come through and help us out a little bit.”

On the heels of another impressive road offensive display that featured four different batters recording home runs, the Astros were handcuffed by Burns, who earned the praise of Houston manager Joe Espada.

“He’s tough,” Espada said of Burns. “We didn’t do a very good job of not chasing that slider. He really kept us off balance and threw us off our plan.

“Credit to their pitching. They did a nice job. They quieted down one of the best offenses in the game.”

Houston wasted a solid start from right-hander Spencer Arrighetti and a combined 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief from Enyel De Los Santos, Steven Okert and Bryan Abreu. The Astros were unable to solve Burns’ mostly two-pitch repertoire of four-seam fastballs and sliders.

Kai-Wei Teng (1-1, 1.80) will make his 14th appearance and second start, with a bulk pitcher likely to follow for the Astros. The right-hander started against the Baltimore Orioles on April 28 and allowed two runs on five hits with two strikeouts in three innings.

In his last appearance against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, Teng allowed one hit and struck out two over two scoreless innings of relief. Teng has made eight starts in 26 career appearances. He will make his first appearance against the Reds.

–Field Level Media